FARMINGTON – Officials at BP America say a highly-productive natural gas well opened in the Four Corners Region’s Mancos Shale formation is a good omen that the field may be “a significant new source of U.S. natural gas supply.”

The firm this month released production figures that indicate the well is the most productive one drilled in the San Juan Basin in 14 years.

The well produced 12.9 cubic feet of natural gas per day over 30 days, the company said in a press release.

“We are delighted with the initial production rate of this well,” Dave Lawler, CEO of BP’s U.S. Lower 48 onshore business, said in a press release. “This result supports our strategic view that significant resource potential exists in the San Juan Basin, and gives us confidence to pursue additional development of the Mancos Shale, which we believe could become one of the leading shale plays in the U.S.”

The find is significant because of its production volume, said New Mexico Oil & Gas Association spokesman Robert McIntyre.

“A production rate of this size hasn’t been seen in the San Juan area at a gas well,” for years, McIntyre said.

The NEBU 602 Com 1H was drilled in the Northeast Blanco on federal land located in both San Juan and Rio Arriba counties.

BP’s Lower 48 unit is one of the largest producers in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado, where the company operates approximately 3,900 wells, its website states.

BP bought Devon Energy’s San Juan Basin assets – consisting of 480 wells on more than 33,000 gross acres – in December 2015.

“The deal consisted largely of Devon’s operated interest in the Northeast Blanco Unit, a section of federal lands located in San Juan and Rio Arriba counties of New Mexico,” the website said.